What are Stem Cells?: The Evolution of Representations of Model Systems for Stem Cell Biology

Rachel Ankeny
University of Sydney, Unit for HPS

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     Last modified: June 15, 2005
     Presentation date: 07/17/2005 11:00 AM in ROZH 109
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Abstract
Title of session: Model search: Model systems in stem cell biology (Sunderland, Zwanziger, Robert)

Abstract for Paper:
As stem cell research has emerged in the public arena in recent years, visual representations of what can be learned from such research and what products may be obtained have served as simplified promissory notes about the future clinical outcomes of this research. Attempts to simplify concepts such as totipotency, multipotency, and even 'stemness' itself have reflected shifting understandings of not only the underlying scientific theories but of appropriate and accurate uses of language in a rapidly shifting sociopolitical environment. This paper explores traditional visual representations of the activity and roles of stem cells and the model systems within which research on them is occurring within the literature of developmental biology, in comparison to recent visual representations directed at both popular/lay and scientific audiences. Recent representations have been increasingly shaped by the endpoints of medical applications rather than the pursuit of knowledge of fundamental mechanisms of developmental biology; furthermore, the hybridity of many of the model systems used is excluded from most visual depictions. These shifts reflect not merely simplification of complex science, but move us toward a particular understanding of what model systems in stem cell biology actually are and what information and products they are likely to provide, as will be illustrated.

Multiple Paper Session:
Other papers in this session:
Translational developmental biology: Taking stem cells from the lab into the clinic
Levels of models in stem cell research